The Country Way of Doing Things
by TessaJayne
Summary: Celia finds herself tied up in a mess of fame, love, and loyalty. After meeting her favorite country singer's son, Shelby Blackstock, she discovers the severe problems he has going on within his family. With her devoted loyalty to his mother, Reba, Celia realizes she has to either fix the Blackstock family problems, or lose the love of her life.


The shocking blow sent her sprawling to the floor, and by the time Celia regained her consciousness, her mother was on her again, screaming in her face about how horrible of a child she was and had always been. The tears in her eyes clouded Celia's vision as she endured her mother's wrath as she did nearly every night. This night in particular was the first time her mother had hit her hard enough to make her cry. This was the final straw.

Celia rose to her feet, wiping the blood off her bottom lip, and looking her mother directly in the eyes. "I'm done." She said simply, turning on her heel and heading to her bedroom.

"What do you mean you're done!? Get back here I'm not finished with you!" Her mother hollered to her daughter as loud as she could, but Celia did not turn around nor flinch. "Celia!"

Yanking clothes off their hangers and pulling them from their drawers, Celia heatedly packed her bags, not being able to help herself from slamming things and throwing various objects across the room. Nothing was going to keep her in this town anymore; not her family, not her boyfriend, not her friends, no one. The only thing that mattered to her now was going somewhere far away from her troubles and worries. Clicking her suitcase shut, she looked over at the picture of her Aunt Robyn and herself standing in front of the Delaware River with the black inner tubes behind them, one with a cooler in it filled with beer. Smiling, tears began to stream down her face, and picked the frame up off the desk and put it inside her suitcase, carefully tucking it in between two pairs of her blue jeans. She walked out the backdoor and to her truck, throwing the suitcase in the back, and heading back inside to finish her packing. She stopped suddenly, for her dad was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed, yet he was smiling.

He hesitated, pondering his words in his head a moment before finally speaking, "Yanno… I knew this day would come eventually. Mom would push it, you'd run off…try to make your dream a reality. So, I was actually prepared for this…" He unfolded his arms, and in one hand, he held a thick stack of fifty dollar bills. "Just, do me a favor. Come back and see me sometime when you're famous for that voice of yours." He added, his crooked smile desperate.

Celia bit her lip, another flow of tears coming on, and leaped into her father's arms, burying her face in his furry neck. "I love you, daddy." She said, her voice crackling from her dry throat.

"I love you too, sweetie." He said, kissing her cheek, and pulling away. He handed her the money, and smiled again. "That's three thousand dollars. I trust you'll use it well."

Celia kissed her father's cheek back and said gleefully, "Thank you, daddy. I will."

He followed her inside and took the bags out to the truck as she packed them, not speaking another word to her until she was sitting in the driver's seat and he was leaning against the door. Smiling, he patted the side of the truck, said he loved her once more, and waved goodbye as she pulled out of the driveway. As the lights of his daughter's truck faded into the horizon, Celia's mother came out of the house, instantaneously screaming at her husband for betraying her and encouraging their daughter to leave home. Shaking his head disappointedly, he ignored her and returned to the house, taking a huge swig of his beer with a proud smile.

* * *

The slam of the door was loud enough to give one a headache, but Reba McEntire didn't the very least bit flinch. Leaning against the now cracked door, she slid down to the floor and buried her face in her hands. Her family was falling apart at the seams and the stitching holding her together was starting to fray. Narvel and she had been at it for weeks, and her son Shelby was taking his side of the argument, ripping Reba's heart in two. Tonight was particularly intense. Shelby had walked out during the fight, and Narvel had gone to the extent of called Reba an 'ungrateful bitch' for everything she supposedly takes advantage of. The comment had gone straight to her damn near last nerve, and as she lay there in a bundled up heap of lost hope, she decided to forget miracles completely.

"Reba, get back out here!" Narvel hollered from behind the door, the rage in his voice finally making Reba jump.

Standing up then, she turned around and locked the door, the _click_ sound giving her a sense of achievement. From now on, she was just going to block him out entirely. She wasn't going to deal with his crap any longer. She could just wear her fake smile like she always did at her concerts, covering up last night's episode with her shining blue eyes as though that was her job, and act like everything was okay. As she attempted to wipe the tears from her face, she couldn't help but to think that maybe she was letting this go too far and that now was the time to file a divorce.

No; she couldn't do that! She still deeply loved Narvel with everything she had, and she wasn't about to give up on him so easily, regardless of some of his actions. They just needed to sit down and have a more adult conversation that didn't involve screaming. At this point, though, Reba found that that may be impossible.

Taking a long and somewhat controlled breath, Reba slowly unlocked the door, closed her eyes, and pulled it open. When she opened them, Narvel was standing before her with his arms crossed over his chest, and his face completely red. He was clearly trying to control himself, and thankfully, he was somewhat successful. The tension between them was heartbreaking and chest tightening. Reba hated that feeling more than anything else in the world. His brown eyes were staring a hole right through her, and she bit her lip so hard she drew blood.

"I'm going out. We'll talk about this later." She said simply, her voice shaky and unstable, but still just as womanly as usual.

Narvel didn't say a word as his wife passed him, and the muscles in his chest receded somewhat, for he knew that if she spent some time away, she'd be better off.

Reba held her chin high as she made her way downstairs and to the garage to get into her car. She revved the engine just as loudly as her heart was pounding and just has hot and fiery as the blood boiling in her veins. She backed out of the driveway and floored it down the road, not letting even the speed limit stop her. She wanted- no, she needed to escape.

* * *

Radio turned up to as loud as her ears could handle, windows all down, and a Dr. Pepper sitting in the cup holder, Celia finally felt free. The crickets were chirping, but she couldn't hear them over Reba McEntire's voice blaring through the radio. No tears formed in her eyes as the famous country singer's voice poured into her ears like a smooth river of inspiration and hope. At least there was one woman in the world that seemed genuine and loving. Her mother and her horrible friend's were the only adults Celia knew in her life, beside herself.

Her phone began vibrating in the dash, and when Celia looked down at it to see who it was, her chest tightened. Her boyfriend, Jack, was calling her, like he did every night at this hour. Tasting metal in the back of her throat, she wondered what she'd say to him. No one could console her at this point, not even him. She just wanted to be alone. As though the phone was a raccoon with rabies, she gingerly picked it up off the dash, turned down the volume on the radio, and hit send to answer the call.

"Hey…" She said delicately, biting her lip again out of habit.

"Ooo. You don't sound too good. What's up?" Jack asked.

Almost hating the fact he knew her so well, Celia answered distressingly, "Jack I'm gonna have to call you back tomorrow. There's a lot going on right now and I can't quit form the words yet."

"Alright. That's fine babe. I love you." Jack said softly, trying his best not to upset her.

"I love you too." Celia said, and quickly hung up, setting the phone back in the dash.

Turning up the radio again, Celia tried to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Where was she even going? There was no one that could take her in, no one she knew that could really help her out. That was when she looked down at her radio, smiling at Reba's voice.

Nashville.

That's where she was going to go.

Within at least ten minutes of Jack called her, her phone vibrated again, sending a sock up her spine. She flashed the cell screen a look and half heartedly smiled. It was Robyn. Then another thought hit her dead center; every night she called her at 9:30, and tonight, she had forgotten. Heart sinking with each vibration, she finally picked the phone up.

"Hey, Robyn. I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier, something came up…" Celia started, but she could hear Robyn start to cut her off.

"You're out of there, aren't ya?" She asked.

"How'd you know?" Celia countered, her eyes slowly starting to swell with tears.

"Your Dad called me, asked me to see if I could get you to stay with me for a while. I think you need some time to relax before you go shooting off to Nashville." She replied, and Celia could tell she was desperate to see her.

"You already figured that out within seconds of speaking to me?"

"I should know you well enough."

"Can't argue with that."

Celia could tell Robyn was grinning, and with the next few words, it was clear to her what her decision was.

"Turn around and come see me. We both need it." Robyn said smoothly, lucidly on the edge of crying.

"I will. I love you, darling." Celia said, her smile growing by the minute.

"I loved you too, dear. Drive safely, please."

"As always. I'll see ya."

"Bye sweetie."

Celia hung up and took a deep breath, trying to recollect her previous thoughts. Everything had become a blur in her head, and with every car light that slashed in her eyes, her vision even started to fade. Realizing her life was already in danger, and wanting to arrive at her Aunt's house in one piece, she pulled over next to a field.

Taking deep, long, and concentrated breaths, Celia tried desperately to regain her sanity. She knew very well that the only person who could set her straight was Robyn, making the only thing that mattered to her getting to her house. Blinking the tears from her eyes, she pulled back out onto the road, somehow possessing the ability to drive.

* * *

All she could see was the skunk's eyes as Reba swerved to miss the seemingly harmless animal. Nearly losing control, her hands tightened on the wheel and she straightened the car back out, releasing her breath of air as the car fell back into her power. Her destination was a small lake barely ten miles away from her house; her secret hideout that she escaped to when things got worse. Her phone had full bars down there, so it was always Susie she called when times of anguish grabbed her by the throat. She was coming up on the familiar tree with the huge knot near the bottom that she used as a landmark, and she could feel her chest muscles finally start to settle as the trail to the lake came into view.

Pulling the car alongside the path, Reba couldn't get out of the car fast enough, and as she ran down the trail, she nearly tripped at the rate of speed she was going. It took her little over a minute to reach the lake, and when she did, she stared up at the sky and a smile found its way to her lips. It was a beautiful, starry night. The temperature outside was perfect. Everything in the world seemed okay.

A tear trickled down Reba's cheek and she looked back down at the lake, suddenly losing stability in her knees. She fell down into the grass, crisscrossing her legs, and running both her hands through her hair. The tears came hard then, and for five minutes straight, she was struggling to breath and coughing every now and then. She didn't want to fight with Narvel, it was never her intention to make him angry, but somehow, after he managed to piss her off, all she wanted to do was scream in his face until the sun rose. Poor Shelby had to listen to them fight whenever he was over, for the battles between Reba and Narvel were constant, and after Shelby had enough of listening to them, he couldn't help but to butt in. He hated seeing them fight, and all he ever wanted to do was make the peace. No matter what he did though, Reba and Narvel still fought. He started to understand his father's point of view more, which of course, shattered Reba's heart. The stress was nearly overwhelming for her.

Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket; it was Narvel. That was it. She'd kick him out tomorrow and be done with it. She couldn't take it anymore; the fake smiles, the fake "nice to meet you" hugs at all the big parties, and so on and so forth. She wanted to mean it when she said she didn't mind when a fan pulled her over for an autograph when she just wanted to get home and take a nap. That's all she ever did anymore: sleep. It was truly awful.

She answered his call simply, "Hey."

"Hey, I'm sorry hunny. I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did." Narvel started, trailing off a little bit, and it was clear to Reba that he didn't think his words out very well.

"I'm sorry Narvel, but I'm done. I really can't take this anymore. I-I can't take you being angry with me all the time and Shelby having to deal with that. I just can't. I want you out by the end of this week." She somehow managed to say this firmly and with little hesitation.

"Reba, please!" Narvel tried, but Reba hung up, gritting her teeth to keep her from screaming.

This was something she had to do on her own, with or without her sister's help. Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she started back down the trail to her car, walking with a new bounce and pride in her step.

* * *

( I've actually given up on this fanfic. Depending on how much feedback I get on it will let me determine whether or not to continue with it. Thanks~! xoxo )


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